Sounding the site iii

The poster for Sounding the site event on April 24 at the University of Sussex has just been released (above).

The event is free and you can go on a guided tour or visit some of the artwork during the day. Julian Broughton, one of the contributors and organisers, has written a programme for the event.

Sounding the Site

Friday 24th April 2009

Programme

Welcome! You are invited to visit six campus ‘islands’ in this modern odyssey. Follow the chorus of children, and start your tour outside the Gardner Centre at 10.30, 13.00, or 14.30.

If each tour runs to time, then approximate end-times are 11.50, 14.20, and 15.50. On average, it should take roughly 5 minutes to get from one island to the next, and roughly 8 minutes to experience each Island.

Island Travel Guide

Tours begin outside the Gardner Centre.

Labyrinth is the first of the Islands. Devised by River Jones and Luska Mengham, this will be found on the lawn at the front of campus, to the right when heading out of the subway towards campus. A large labyrinth has been mown in an area of long grass. The school group will sing a sea shanty before leading visitors to the next island.

Beach-Cave can be found in the moat and under the arches outside the Union Shop in Falmer House. This Island reflects Odysseus' sojourn in the cave of the goddess Calypso, and combines a sound piece by Roger Harmar with a sculpture of a raft/still life by Terry Howe.

Sirens can be found in InQbate’s ‘Creativity Zone’, in Pevensey 3, C7.

Heading Down can be found in Essex House, in the corridor next to the ‘SI Café’. Three poems by Abi Curtis reflect magic and mishap on Circe’s island, and evoke the gateway to the Underworld. Julian Broughton’s music for solo viola frames and punctuates the poems, with a visual element specially created by painter Christopher McHugh.

Bag of Winds A soundscape composed by Ric Graebner represents the story of Aeolus and the bag of winds, rashly opened by Odysseus’s men. All will be revealed in the tunnel under Arts Road, on the footpath heading for Bramber House.

Destination Point is concerned with journeys, and can be found in the grass area in front of Fulton Court, next to Arts A. Once you enter this structure, you will be offered a number of ‘channels’ to follow. But there is no direct route to anywhere, and no actual point of destination. . . For as long as you continue to seek, music by Michael Mclinn will continue to sound. Adam Verden is responsible for concept and design, and Alex Hart and Kevin Costello have helped to realize it.

Julian Broughton

Hope to see you there.

Sounding the site ii

Well we are only a few weeks away from the Sounding the site event at the University of Sussex and things are moving apace. The project is based upon incidents in Homer's Poem, the Odyssey, and I am collaborating on an island with sculptor Terry Howe as part of the project. (See previous post for a summary)

Terry's island will consist of a raft on a beach with Odysseus asleep under a pile of leaves with my island cave about 5 metres away. Terry has taken a photo of the spot on a typical winter's day here in darkest Sussex (below). I will be providing music/sound for the cave and for Terry's beach and raft. I will post a more general overview of the project, once more becomes clear and the site and music are developed.

Photo: Terry Howe

The View from the cave, the beach is on the left and the moat will be full of water, we hope :-)

Sounding the site

This week I became involved in a new project that will result in a performance on the campus of Sussex University (above) called Sounding the site. Here's a description of the project that myself and others are working towards.

Sounding the Site is an arts event, planned to take place on the University of Sussex campus on Friday 24 April 2009. Loosely based on the theme of Homer’s Odyssey (the epic tale recounting the adventures of Ulysses as he island-hops his way home to Ithaca after the Trojan War) Sounding the Site will lead the audience in a journey around the campus, pausing at six different ‘Islands’. Each ‘Island’ will be created by a different group, and will present the audience with an experience (lasting around five minutes) in which word, image and music/sound are creatively combined. The whole journey, which will take around 1.5 hours to complete, will be accompanied by a chorus, providing a narrative thread to link the Islands together.

I'm writing a piece for one island and maybe doing some graphics or artwork depending on how the project develops. I'll post more when the project gets further along.